Warbird Information Exchange

You could have done an 'in place' nested doubler after some careful straightening and no one would know, it would be just as strong, it's standard repair manual method for doing cowl repairs on 727/737/DC-9's just pickup 4 rivet locations on the leg of the rib doubler. 45 seconds on the brake, two minutes on the foot stretcher, 4 # 40 pilot holes in the new part, a 90 drill motor with a 20 bit and a few clecos-30 minutes invested.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Inspector,

It would have been nice to do this repair in place, but the rib was damaged more severely then the pictures above show. The thinnest part of the rib was squashed so badly that it was creased back in upon itself. Once we pounded it flat on the bench, this six-inch long crease split open. Here is a close-up that gives you a better idea.





We spent this morning hammering it back into reasonably good shape. After that, we cut out 2 templates using a piece of red oak.



Next step is to sandwich the new piece of aluminum between the templates to shape it. This will be Tuesday night's project. More to follow.

Don't forget metal grain direction unless you're using '0' and going to heat treat to T-3, you'll crack it bending along the grain.
This may sound stupid and be 'Yeah, Yeah' stuff but a bit of nudging never hurts and, it's secondary structure so I'd hang onto it and play around with making a nested doubler if only for the 'sperience.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Yup, we had the discussion regarding direction of the grain. Thanks very much for your input!

Don

Can't believe it has been so long since my last update. Time surely flies.

Lots of changes for the better around the hangar. We have been doing a major re-org of the workshop, creating a better workflow in order to get parts restored quicker. We only had one long workbench which tended to get very cluttered and made it difficult for guys to even find tools and materials at times. Here is the new shop layout.



We now have four benches that all have casters so that they can be arranged as we need them. We currently have them paired up and jigs added so that we can work on two undercarriage doors at a time. In the last week the gear doors have gone from this....





... to this.





We should have these buttoned up and ready for public display in the next two weeks.

The addition of a very experienced aircraft tech to the team has made a huge difference around the workshop. Nicholas also brings experience re-building a Lancaster bomb-bay, having helped in the restoration of the Nanton Lanc. He is a great teacher as well. He has lined up a bunch of student volunteers for the summer so it is looking like we will have a very productive season.

More to follow.

Don

Great update Don, What is Nicholas's last name as I dont recall him working on Fm159 and she hasnt had any bombay work are you sure it is not Fm104?

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Cheers,
Peter

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I may have mis-heard him, lol. It happens to old farts like me. Nicholas King.

Don

Nice metalwork and you guys are jammin' on the work!!!!!!

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Thanks, Inspector!

Thanks Don yes he has got to be from Tam then.

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Cheers,
Peter

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Just spoke with him today. He was there in 1990 with the old Warbirds Society.

D

Time for another update.

Things have really been humming along at the hangar. A volunteer drive by Brad and Nicholas has brought in more talented people which has made an immediate impact. We will also have 4 students starting next week and they will be working 30 hours per week over the next 8 weeks.

We have instituted weekday volunteer hours as well and are getting a good turnout. As a result, a lot is getting accomplished and we are confident that we will meet our self-imposed "end of June" deadline to get all four undercarriage doors and valances buttoned up and on display, as well as one of (if not both) wingtips. Riveting has begun on one wingtip already.



At that point, our goal is to fix some issues with the tail-wheel in order to get the horizontal stabs back on the fuselage. While that is in progress, we will be restoring/repairing the vertical stabs and control surfaces in order to meet our next goal of getting the old bird into the main hangar by the fall.

I have to say that, in my year and a half on this project, things have never looked more positive. There is a palpable feeling of excitement and optimism throughout the whole organization as major progress on both the Mossie and Lancaster projects is seen. Well done to everyone involved!!

Finally, a big congratulations to Ryan Orshinsky on graduating and receiving his AME certification!

Don C

I've got some old black and white pics of this bird from the late 60's, I'll see if I can dig some up.

That would be great. Thanks!

Don

Thanks Don! It's great to be back and working on the project once again.

Things are really starting to pick up around the shop. It has now been opened up Monday thru Saturday for volunteers to work on the various projects. As well, a program has come along to hire on 4 students for an 8 week period (myself being one of them). We've been working with Nicholas over the couple days and have made some great progress already.

We've managed to move most of the Lanc parts that were in the hut outside into the main hangar storage area, with the goal of having the entire aircraft in the hangar by this coming November.

Today, after a thorough inspection and photographing/documenting the interiors of the landing gear door valances we closed them up for the final time. They're officially the first fully completed components for the aircraft and are ready for install when the time comes.



(Just a cell phone picture for now, I'll get some better ones of all of the current projects and post them tomorrow)

While we were finishing the valances up some of the other members were prepping the gear doors for primer so we can continue the work on them. They'll be the next items completed. Once they're done we're moving on to the aircrafts rudders.

In between all of this we've also been slowly moving along with riveting on the one wingtip. They're some snags that still have to be fixed with a couple of the ribs but other than that things are progressing nicely.

I think that's all for now! Pictures will be up sometime tomorrow!

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Ryan Orshinsky
Windsor, ON
CH2A - Engineering
rorshinsky@ch2a.ca
http://www.ch2a.ca